Hairy Thuggish Women - Female Werewolves Gender and the Hoped-For Monster - A MA Thesis by Elizabeth M Clark BA (2008).pdf

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"H
AIRY
T
HUGGISH
W
OMEN
"
F
EMALE
W
EREWOLVES
, G
ENDER
,
AND THE
H
OPED
-F
OR
M
ONSTER
A Thesis
submitted to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
of Georgetown University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of
Master of Arts
in Communication, Culture and Technology
By
Elizabeth M. Clark, B.A.
Washington, DC
April 24, 2008
"H
AIRY
T
HUGGISH
W
OMEN
"
F
EMALE
W
EREWOLVES
, G
ENDER
,
AND THE
H
OPED
-F
OR
M
ONSTER
Elizabeth M. Clark, B.A.
Thesis Advisor: Michael Coventry PhD
A
BSTRACT
The female werewolf embodies a kind of gendered border crossing: a female
body expressing characteristics labeled both masculine and male by the dominant
culture (power, strength, rage, aggression, violence, and body hair). In this project, I
explore how recent film and television narratives of female werewolves deal with
gendered fears and expectations of female power and the female body, as well as
how the visuality of these texts upholds and/or challenges cultural norms of sex and
gender.
The first chapter analyzes specific texts focusing on visual representations of
gender and power. In these texts, female werewolves function as a
disciplinary/regulatory sign of un/acceptable female bodies and behaviors. At the
same time, the spectacle of the masculine-female-grotesque and the
ambigendered/ambisexed body is often avoided. In examining these texts, I look for
moments and characters that threaten the patriarchal and heterosexist gender binary
ii
and its roles/expectations. Are any of these characters a representation of a hopeful
monster/monster queer that enables promising disruptions of old categories?
The second chapter focuses on audience reception and interpretation of these
texts, using online posting boards and review websites. Here, I look for moments of
negotiation and resistance within audience readings of these narratives. The third
chapter links text, production, and audience in an examination of a recent film
adaptation of the young adult novel,
Blood and Chocolate.
My focus throughout this
project rests on the un/acceptable female body, and the textual fissures that foster
resistance to dominant cultural ideals about gender.
iii
Thank you to Dr. Michael Coventry, my advisor and committee chair, for his
guidance and support during the researching and writing of this thesis.
Thank you to my committee member Dr. Matthew Tinkcom.
Thank you to my colloquium members Katherine Morrissey, Megan McCabe, and
Karen Neckyfarow for their friendship, most especially to Katie.
Thank you to my parents for their love and aid.
Above all, thank you to my partner, Dante S.A. Deen, for his unwavering love, care,
and support.
iv
T
ABLE OF
C
ONTENTS
Introduction: Borders, Gender, Monstrosity .........................................................1
Cultural Teratology.........................................................................4
Methodology and Theory .............................................................. 10
Werewolf as Monster: Masculinity, Class and Race ...................... 23
The Female Werewolf as Grotesque.............................................. 29
Unlivable Women: Body Hair, Muscles, and Violence.................. 34
The Horror Film and Gender......................................................... 48
Chapter 1.
Female Werewolves Onscreen: Narratives of Transgression and
Containment ................................................................................. 56
The Containment of Female Werewolves on Film......................... 59
The Ginger Snaps Trilogy ............................................................. 88
Female Power and Fan Pleasure.................................................. 121
Audience Identification and Horror Films ................................... 123
Television Fans Read Madison, Nina, and Veruca....................... 130
Fans Read the
Ginger Snaps
Trilogy........................................... 139
"She Seemed Sulkier":
Blood and Chocolate
Times Two, or Taming
the Unruly Woman...................................................................... 154
The Book .................................................................................... 155
The Film ..................................................................................... 159
Lost in Adaptation: Book and Movie........................................... 165
Production: “Straight from the Book” ......................................... 184
Audience Reactions to the Film and Book................................... 190
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Conclusion: Looking for a Hopeful Monster .................................................... 203
Appendix I. Films Featuring Female Werewolves............................................ 212
Appendix II: Television Episodes Featuring Female Werewolves .................... 214
Appendix III. Shapeshifter Texts ..................................................................... 215
v

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